How to install and setup Jinzora (streaming media server) in OS X

This tutorial will guide you every step of the way through installing and setting up Jinzora, a very robust streaming media server – in OS X.

From the Jinzora site -

Jinzora is the ultimate web based media streaming and management system. Streaming your media with Jinzora gives you quick and easy access to your online music and video collection from any device with a web browser. Enjoy your media from your PC, notebook, PDA, Smart Phone, Xbox, PS3 or Wii.

Jinzora supports the following formats – Audio: AAC, M4A, Midi, MP3, MP4, Ogg Vorbis, RM and WMA. Audio (Transcoded): Flac, MPC, WAV, WMA Lossless, WV and SHN. Video: AVI, WMV, MPEG and MOV.

If you’d like to install Jinzora in Windows, Lifehacker has you covered.

1. Before you install Jinzora, you’ll need to install and setup MAMP (Mac, Apache, MySQL and PHP). Fortunately we have you covered with a tutorial on doing just that in OS X.
2. Head over to the Jinzora download page and download the Linux version (yes, the Linux version). Extract the files to your Document Root (if you’re using MAMP, the default will be /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/).
3. Open a Terminal, navigate to /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/jinzora2/ and enter the following 4 commands:
   

   chmod 777 settings.php
   chmod 777 jukebox/settings.php
   chmod 777 -R temp
   chmod 777 -R data



4. To start the browser based installation, navigate to index.php in the jinzora2 directory. Again, if you’re using MAMP with the default settings, this will be http://localhost:8888/jinzora2/index.php. Review the info provided on this page, and select your Language: from the drop down list.


click to enlarge

5. Jinzora will run a check to make sure that your server (Mac) meets the minimum requirements. It will also check for Optional Packages. Some of these won’t be found – don’t worry about it. If the Recommended Settings show up as “red”, you’ll need to edit your php.ini file (found in /Applications/MAMP/conf/php5/php.ini – if you’re using MAMP in the default installation location).

   Open php.ini in a text editor, and scroll to the line:

   memory_limit = 8M ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (8MB)

   change it to:

   memory_limit = 64M ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (64MB)

   Now look for the line:

   max_execution_time = 30 ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds

   and change it to:

   max_execution_time = 300 ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds

   Save the file. Click Proceed to License to continue.


click to enlarge

6. Review the license (yeah right), place a check in the box labeled I Agree to the license terms and click Proceed to Install Type.


click to enlarge

7. For the Installation Type: select Standalone (the default). For the Jukebox Mode: select Streaming Only. Click to Proceed to Main Settings.


click to enlarge

8. Here you’ll need to specify a number of settings. The Main Settings are all straight forward. The Frontend: and Style: can be changed later, so don’t stress too much over your selections.


click to enlarge

9. The Import Settings are very important. Hover your cursor over the Data Structure: drop-down list and a detailed explanation of the options will be displayed.


click to enlarge

10. I opted for Tag Data as my Data Structure, because I have spent a lot of time tagging my music, but my folder organization is terrible. Again, hover your cursor over the Media Layout: drop-down list for a detailed explanation of the choices.


click to enlarge

11. I opted for Artist as my Media Layout, but you of course can select the method that works best for you. Click Proceed to Backend Setup when you’ve made all your selections.


click to enlarge

12. Now you’ll need to specify the info for your database. Your database username and password can be found in your MAMP setup if you’re unsure what they are. Give your database a name (jinzora2, jinzora or something descriptive is a good idea), select MySQL as the Database Type, and unless you’ve already created the database manually, select True from the Create Database: drop-down. Click Continue with Backend Install.


click to enlarge

13. Assuming everything was successful, click Proceed to Import Media.


click to enlarge

14. Now it’s time to add your media. Navigate to the top level folder you want to add, and click Analyze. As you’ll note from the screenshot below, I only added some of my music collection (I created a temp folder and moved some albums into it). This was for screenshot purposes only. It can take quite a while to add a large media collection, and you can always add additional folders later.



15. Once completed, click Proceed.



16. You can add more media, or continue with the rest of the setup. When you’re done adding media, click Proceed to Save Config.


click to enlarge

17. If everything was successful, click Proceed to Launch Jinzora.


click to enlarge

18. Now you’ll be asked if you want to share anonymous stats. I’m a nice guy, so I opted to do just that.


click to enlarge

19. Click Launch Jinzora.


click to enlarge

20. Now sign in to Jinzora with the user name and password you specified way back in step #8.



21. At this point you may receive an error message about your installation not being secure. Move the /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/jinzora2/install folder to somewhere else on your hard drive. Do not delete the install folder, as you’ll need it if you want to add more media folders in the future.

    Refresh the page after you’ve moved the install folder…


click to enlarge

22. and the admin interface to Jinzora will appear, with all of your media loaded.


click to enlarge

23. On another computer (or Smartphone etc) load the URL http://ip-of-your-mac:8888/jinzora2

    If your Mac and the “other computer” are on the same local network, the Jinzora login page will appear. If the other computer isn’t on the same network, you’ll need to make sure that port 8888 (the default MAMP web server port) is open/allowed through your firewall. If your Mac is behind a router, check PortForward.com for instructions on forwarding ports on your router.

    After you’ve signed in to Jinzora, click the Play button next to one of your albums/artists/songs. That album/artist/song will start to stream.


click to enlarge


Windows Mobile interface


Streaming to Windows Media Player Mobile

Advanced

To stream certain file types (flac, shn etc), you’ll need to install some additional software. Open settings.php in a text editor (found in /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/jinzora2) and scroll to the // Resampling section.

Change $allow_resample = "false"; to $allow_resample = "true";

Look for the lines:

$path_to_lame = "/usr/local/bin/lame";
$path_to_flac = "/usr/local/bin/flac";

and install flac and lame to those locations. Repeat for each format you want to stream.

If you’re only streaming files across your local network, you can skip the above steps, as Jinzora will ignore resampling requests for local networks. But make sure your internal networks IP addresses are included in the line:

$no_resample_subnets = “(192\.168\..*\..*)|(127\..*\..*\..*)”;

eg. if you use 10. as your internal network IP range, add |(10\..*\..*\..*)”